“Sustainability” is a big part of EcoFest’s message.
But for its 1st 2 years, the townwide environmental exhibition/music festival produced by Staples’ Club Green could not sustain itself.
This year’s free event — set for tomorrow (Saturday, June 11, 12-5:30 p.m.) at the Levitt Pavilion — is as sustainable as its message.
After 2 years of help from Green Village Initiative and CL&P, this year the student organizers looked for business sponsors. Included are New England Smart Energy, Terex, Chevy Volt, Tauck-Romano, and GVI.
“We wanted to show the public who really cares about the environment,” says spokesman Ben Meyers. “To wash your car, go to Westport Wash & Wax — they’ve got solar panels.” Car wash credits are one of EcoFest’s raffle prizes.
“The music and green message has always been there,” Ben notes. “But this year the club really wanted to make sure to hit the ‘eco’ part. It’s all about getting more products and things that people can use.”
Over 30 vendors will sell sustainable products, offer options like solar and wind energy, and provide low-key educational activities.
Plus: face painting, recycling racing, create-your-own-green cleaning products, raffles of cool environmental movies, and more.
Also on tap: food and drinks from the likes of Skinny Pines organic pizza, Planet Fuel organic juice drinks, and Steaz teas.
The Staples cheerleaders support EcoFestClub Green will sell its own organic t-shirts, and BPA-free water bottles. Two electric cars -- a Tesla and Chevy Volt -- will be displayed.
Meyers says that Fairfield County is “one of the worst CO2-emitting areas in the world.” The average local resident uses twice the amount as the average American — and 9 times more than the average Chinese (52 tons per year, versus 6 in China).
“One reason is our big houses, and how we insulate, heat and light them,” Meyers says.
Tomorrow, turn off your lights. Shut the a/c. Head to the Levitt, for the 3rd annual EcoFest.
Hopefully, you’ll get there by hybrid or electric vehicle.
Or on bike. Or foot.
I question Meyers’ supposition that this area is the one of the worst in the world as to CO2 emissons. First off, the population is not that massive and because we use large amounts of electricity for our massive houses, pools and various toys, does not that mean there is a power plant somewhere in Bridgeport supplying that energy and such emissions are in a finite area??? Lord, the Greater Houston area, with its massive petrochemical plants must be a few thousand times worse than here. They don’t call Pasadena, “Stinkadena” for nothing. I applaud the efforts of the EcoFest but I don’t see a
we losing our addiction to fossil fuels anytime soon. We have become a culture of convenience rather than sacrifice.
Thanks for the great article Dan! Everyone come on down! Admission is free so what’s there to lose? We are also giving our first ever Think Clean Go Green Awards there for a non-Club Green student.
In response to “The Dude Abides”: just because we’re not emitting it right here, doesn’t mean we’re not responsible for it. It’s the same thing as sending all your trash to China and then saying ‘oh wait, we have the least trash than any other country”. Maybe a better way to put it is the CO2 that we are responsible for. To be extreme, I hope you enjoy being convenient until those fossil fuels run out. Is CO2 the worst poison ever? To be rational, you’re right, it’s not, but it’s the consumption of the things that lead to CO2 that I really believe is the trouble. It’s not just about the fears instilled upon us by An Inconvenient Truth. My point is that you can still live your life when we convert more to things like solar. I really hope you come on down because it’s a really fun event and maybe it will change your mind! The drinks are free and the food is subsidized so it’s real cheap. I hope I haven’t offended you, because what you said was really very mild.
To others reading this, It always confuses me me when people oppose this ‘movement,’ so to speak, because it’s not trying to hurt anyone. Rather it’s trying to help us find ways to make our lifestyles last. The same way you have a sustainable budget and income, we need a sustainable income and use of resources that are not used up in one lifetime. Right now we’re on a big spending spree, but we could change our currency to renewable sources. Do people think that it’s selfless to go green? Oh the contrary, we should be much more SELFISH. To be selfish is to want to life this lifestyle forever, and the sustainable/green way is how we’re going to do that. This isn’t environmentalism; this is humanism.
Anyway, everyone come on down to ECOFEST and see the Tesla and the Chevy Volt that will be there.
As long as the activities are voluntary you can claim “it’s not trying to hurt anyone.” So, have a great day. BTW the conversion to solar energy will result in a misallocation of the scarce resources you are trying to preserve.
On second that @The Dude Abides: I also have to 100% agree with you. It’s extremely important to improve the efficiency of factories/plants/etc in Texas and Bridgeport. Actually, GVI is helping to plan community gardens in bridgeport and they’re one of our vendors and as always, our main sponsors. My point before was just that we can reduce bridgeport’s emissions too if we slow down our energy usage, etc.
Also my quote was in context of the statistic: worst CO2 emitters was per person.
Hey Ben, I am all for conservation of our resources as well as our planet. But I also lived through the so-called Greening of America when gas lines were a mile long and President Carter was urging us to do something. We didn’t. And I think this most recent Greening trend will end much the same. It is a shame but we are an ADD country with little vision and a very insatiable consumption. But I will bike down to the Fest.
That was a bit harsh and pessimistic. The greening trend will last as long as it makes sense. When Carter tried to “do something” he came up with gas lines, cardigan sweaters, and diminished expectations. The American people were not persuaded by his “sky is falling argument then and they won’t be now.
Actually the lines started under Ford (’75) with ample gasoline supplies. It was a run on the bank. Carter brought the issue to public awareness but once the lines shortened and the pumps open 24/7, we lost interest. Interesting piece on “The Daily Show” about getting most of our oil from that terrorist nation: Canada. Perhaps we should invade them and get free health care???
Or Mexico, the second largest source of our oil, and maybe in a few years Brazil after we fund their oil exploration and development. Alas Canada’s healthcare is not free; there is no free lunch or free healthcare. If you are over 65 and want a hip replacement in Canada, the await if far longer than in the US. The wait for pretty much everything is far longer ( How about 16 weeks for an MRI?), and in most cases no mammograms for women under 50. I want to see some American politician stand up and tell American women that they can’t have all the mammograms they deem to be necessary.
Indeed, and it would seem Brazil is busting at its sides. I know even the welfare state of Vermont looks upon Canadian doctors with a skeptical eye. I thought there was some talk about women having too many mammograms? I am surprised at no reprisal on the merits of the Ecofest? The Greening of America is only concerned with the color of the dollar bill. For once, the free market will look at it in the rear view mirror.
Can we stop bashing an event run by high schoolers that’s just supposed to be a lot of fun…?
Sure, we can pretend that all is fine and not debate anything. That way, we can continue to live in a bubble. Just as long as the kids have fun.
You might want to start taking down all your signs around town in the name of the ecological freedom.
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